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Zoning Board Okays Hospital

Oak Bluffs Town Board Grants Hospital Request for Special Permit to
Construct Larger Facility in Eastville Area

The Oak Bluffs zoning board of appeals last night unanimously
approved a special permit for the $42 million renovation and expansion
of the Martha's Vineyard Hospital. The decision will allow the
size of the overall campus and the height of the main building to exceed
what is normally allowed under town zoning bylaws.

In approving the special permit, the board added several conditions
that will limit the overall height of the hospital and restrict how
patients can access a rooftop garden that overlooks a residential area.
Another condition requires project proponents to provide more detailed
site plans to the board that show exact measurements of height and
distance.

At the start of the two-hour meeting, architect Daniel W. Cress said
the current combined size of the existing hospital buildings in the
hospital care district is about 140,000 square feet - already well
beyond the 100,000-square-foot maximum allowed under town zoning. The
maximum building height for buildings in the hospital care district is
35 feet.

The special permit will allow the hospital to expand to about
220,000 square feet, and also will allow for a two-story addition with
steeply-pitched roofs that peak above the 35-foot mark. Plans also
called for a special tower at the main entrance to the hospital to reach
a height of 55 feet, but the hospital agreed to decrease its height to
no more than 50 feet.

Mr. Cress said the project officials could have designed a flat roof
at a height of 29 feet - which is within zoning regulations
- but felt it was more aesthetically pleasing to build a pitched
roof and entrance tower.

"We thought this [design] fit better with the neighborhood.
This is a very large building, and if it had a flat roof or a gradually
sloping roof it would seem like a big box," he said.

Although board members discussed broader aspects of the project such
as its impact on the neighborhood and its overall size, they largely
focused on two specific aspects of the design: the 55-foot entrance
tower and the 15,000-square-foot open air rooftop garden planned for the
second story of the patient wing.

Chairman Gail M. Barmakian explained that although the town zoning
regulations allow for a building to exceed a height of 35 feet in the
health care district by special permit, the regulations also seemed
clear that no structure, under any circumstances, can exceed 50 feet.

"I don't think we can just look the other way and ignore
the regulations," Ms. Barmakian said. "This is a very
sensitive area, and we have to think about what this will look like from
the road and also from the water."

Board member Kris Chvatal said he worried the tower would reflect
sunlight or be lit up during the evenings. "I hope this does not
become some sort of beacon," he said. "We know some
architects like to light their work."

Mr. Cress said the tower was an important component of the plan
because it will mark the main entrance to the facility and also provide
natural lighting into the entrance hall. When board members asked if the
tower could be reduced by five feet so that the building would comply
with the zoning regulations, Mr. Cress resisted, explaining that it
would force the removal of an entire group of windows.

But when the board agreed to a condition limiting the maximum height
of the new hospital to 50 feet, Mr. Cress said the plans could be
changed so the height of the tower would be lowered.

Only a handful of residents spoke during a brief public comment
period, including Windemere Road resident Marcia Graham, who said she
was concerned about an invasion of privacy by patients walking in the
rooftop garden. Her home is less than 40 feet away from the corner of
the hospital where the garden is slated to be built.

"I'm a little worried about someone being able to
literally look down from above into my house," she said.

After hearing Ms. Graham's comments, several board members
questioned whether the rooftop garden was necessary at all.

Hospital chief executive officer Timothy Walsh explained that the
rooftop garden was a vital component to the project. Studies have shown
that such gardens may have a soothing and therapeutic effect on
recovering patients, and the garden also will conserve energy and heat
because it provides a natural layer of insulation, he said.

Mr. Cress explained that access to the rooftop garden was limited,
and that patients would have to walk along a paved pathway far removed
from the edge of the building. Even if they wanted to, they could not
stray from the path because large planters would block their path, he
said.

The board eventually agreed to a condition limiting the use of the
rooftop garden only to patients, and select employees assisting those
patients.

Following the meeting, Mr. Walsh said he felt the conditions's
imposed by the board were fair and acceptable.

The hospital project still needs approval from the town planning
board and conservation commission before construction can start.